Yellow urates; red comb and wattles

[MarlaMac]

All my chickens are australorps. 21 (now 20 - 13 layers, 1 rooster, a cockerel and 6 pullets).

They eat Kalmbach flock raiser 20% protein (roosters in flock). They get treats 2x weekly - 4 eggs shared among the of them with chicken probiotics on them (use a splash of olive oil to adhere the probiotics to the eggs).

They free range. We have 60 acres and they can go anywhere they want. It is super hot here in central Texas right now. Temp between 95-97, with a feels like close to 100.

They have deep shade and cool water throughout the day. I also wet the ground for them in the shade towards the end of the day for them to cool off before going to roost. I have fans in the coop for them at night.

Back story: I just had 1 chicken die. She was sick for about 7 days (possibly longer - she could have been hiding how sick she was). She was on amoxicillin for 3 days prior to death (250mg @ 2x per day). I am pretty sure she die of reproductive issues. I found a broken soft shell in her about 5 days ago, then her urates turned yellow and by the time I brought her in, she was skin and bones and her poo was simply yellow liquid (my husband usually does the holding while I administer the meds so I never felt her wasting away). She also had a bought with what I thought was vent gleet (nasty crusty what looked like urates on her vent that had to be cleaned daily with lotrimin applied. That seemed to be clearing up when all this other happened).

Now, I have another girl that I found a soft shell egg in (yes, they have free choice flaked oyster shells available to the 24/7) and her urates have also turned yellow. She has been getting calcium citrate 600mg + d3 for about 4 days now. I have brought her in to monitor her poop and food intake. I will post pictures soon of her poop. I also started her on amoxicillin.

In both this chicken and the one who died, their combs and wattles are still bright red. The one who died never got a dull comb. Planning on taking some of this current sick girl's poop to be float tested tomorrow just to rule out parasites.

Can a sick chicken comb and wattles remain red?

 

[WingItRanch]

It sounds like you're a great caretaker and doing everything you can for your flock. I'm not an Educator but I would agree with your assessment that the first hen died of a reproductive issue.

How old was the one that passed and the one that is showing illness?

To answer your question, yes. They can have a nice red comb even when sick. I had a pullet that had a beautiful comb up until they day she had to be put down after being in pain and wasting away. She also had a reproductive issue.

The comb is either staying red because their hormones are still strong or maybe flushed because it's hot.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Yellow urates in the dropping are usually due to liver failure due to egg yolk peritonitis or salpingitis, cancer, fatty liver disease, and sometimes heart failure, especially in meat chickens. Water belly (ascites) is usually seen in the abdomen when you do a necropsy, and that or infection can cause an enlarged lower belly, which may lead to a messy area under the vent when droppings don’t clear. When I lost a hen I started doing home necropsies to look at the organs in case I could see signs of what might have been wrong. Since chickens can lay eggs most of their lives, even if they are laying them internally, they can keep a red comb.

 

[MarlaMac]

Thank you both for your replies. I didn't do a necropsy on the one that died, but I will on this one if she passes. I am praying she will not, but she may.

She hasn't pooped yet, but she did eat some egg, a little crumble and some watermelon. Haven't seen a dropping yet, but will get that picture as soon as she does poo.

Do you agree with keeping her isolated from the flock? It will be 100 degrees here today. If I were sick, I would much prefer the cooler inside temps (we keep the house between 76 & 78 in the heat of the day). She has been standing up since I put her in the crate.

 

[MarlaMac]

It sounds like you're a great caretaker and doing everything you can for your flock. I'm not an Educator but I would agree with your assessment that the first hen died of a reproductive issue.

How old was the one that passed and the one that is showing illness?

To answer your question, yes. They can have a nice red comb even when sick. I had a pullet that had a beautiful comb up until they day she had to be put down after being in pain and wasting away. She also had a reproductive issue.

The comb is either staying red because their hormones are still strong or maybe flushed because it's hot.

 

[MarlaMac]

It sounds like you're a great caretaker and doing everything you can for your flock. I'm not an Educator but I would agree with your assessment that the first hen died of a reproductive issue.

How old was the one that passed and the one that is showing illness?

To answer your question, yes. They can have a nice red comb even when sick. I had a pullet that had a beautiful comb up until they day she had to be put down after being in pain and wasting away. She also had a reproductive issue.

The comb is either staying red because their hormones are still strong or maybe flushed because it's hot.

The only hens we have are Black Australorps. Our six pullets are Blue Australorps. Of our hens, they can be anywhere between 2 and 5 years old. We did have a pullet from the last hatch that presented with yellow urates at about 12-14 weeks old. Perhaps it was that girl (?).

 

[Eggcessive]

I am not a vet or really an expert, but apparently yellow urates can sometimes be a result of dehydration. I think it might also happen temporarily with giving B vitamins. But in my experience, it usually means liver problems from the things listed above. The main thing is to find the one having them and monitor her to see that it continues or urates go back to white.

 

[MarlaMac]

Thank you both for your replies. I didn't do a necropsy on the one that died, but I will on this one if she passes. I am praying she will not, but she may.

She hasn't pooped yet, but she did eat some egg, a little crumble and some watermelon. Haven't seen a dropping yet, but will get that picture as soon as she does poo.

Do you agree with keeping her isolated from the flock? It will be 100 degrees here today. If I were sick, I would much prefer the cooler inside temps (we keep the house between 76 & 78 in the heat of the day). She has been standing up since I put her in the crate.

I am not a vet or really an expert, but apparently yellow urates can sometimes be a result of dehydration. I think it might also happen temporarily with giving B vitamins. But in my experience, it usually means liver problems from the things listed above. The main thing is to find the one having them and monitor her to see that it continues or urates go back to white.

Thank you. I have her isolated right now and she is uniquely tagged also so I know going forward who she is.

Here are pictures of her poo. She is inside in a crate in our living area as we have a very small house and 1 bedroom. Our geriatric border collie already takes up most of the free space, so I had to rearrange an entire area to fit her in. HAHAHA

We have her in a large dog crate and cover it most the way. Here are pictures of her poop from just a little bit ago. The first looks like what I would expect with a hen that has an infection who is not eating much, the yellow urates are mucusy. The other poop I think is a cecal poop b/c it smell decided worse than the other. Stinky.

Still hasn't ate much of her crumble, even though I made her a mash which they all usually love. I think I will make her a bit of oatmeal to see if she will be enticed.

I bagged the poop for fecal float tomorrow.

Edited: On 2nd thought, might not be cecal as it has urates. Does cecal poo have urates?

 

[MarlaMac]

Thank you. I have her isolated right now and she is uniquely tagged also so I know going forward who she is.

Here are pictures of her poo. She is inside in a crate in our living area as we have a very small house and 1 bedroom. Our geriatric border collie already takes up most of the free space, so I had to rearrange an entire area to fit her in. HAHAHA

We have her in a large dog crate and cover it most the way. Here are pictures of her poop from just a little bit ago. The first looks like what I would expect with a hen that has an infection who is not eating much, the yellow urates are mucusy. The other poop I think is a cecal poop b/c it smell decided worse than the other. Stinky.

Still hasn't ate much of her crumble, even though I made her a mash which they all usually love. I think I will make her a bit of oatmeal to see if she will be enticed.

I bagged the poop for fecal float tomorrow.

Also, I found the amoxicillin from this morning in the crate.